Bilibid personnel face revamp, drug tests

MANILA, Philippines - Personnel of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City will undergo major revamp and drug testing after a package of illegal marijuana leaves and various communication devices were seized inside the national penitentiary last Saturday.

Upon approval of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Franklin Bucayu has ordered the reshuffle of custodial personnel in all three compounds and the drug testing of all prison guards of the NBP.

The BuCor chief said the same measures would be done in other prison and penal farms administered by the bureau.

In a statement yesterday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed that a parcel containing five packs of marijuana leaves was seized in the NBP Sunday. The contraband was supposed to be received by an inmate who has yet to be identified.

The search also yielded 11 signal boosters, four booster chargers, 46 aluminum outdoor antennas, 14 plastic outdoor antennas, nine repeaters, seven units power supply, five rolls of electrical wires, a splitter and a distributor.

Bucayu has ordered investigators to trace the gadgets to the inmates who own or use them.

De Lima hinted that more operations to crack down on illegal activities in the national penitentiary are expected in the next weeks.

A GMA News report last week bared the existence of the so-called “Magic 12” or the high-profile inmates allegedly involved in illegal drug operations in the NBP.

Citing an unnamed prison guard who had worked in the NBP for four years and had access to the Magic 12, the report said most of the components for these illegal drugs were brought in through Gate 4, which is beside the Inmates Visitation Service Unit.

De Lima said authorities are searching for the rumored drug laboratory set up in the NBP.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas said “cell site blanketing” would help stop the illegal drug trade in the prison. He said cell phone signal jammers have long been installed in the penitentiary and blanketing means no cell phones would work within and in the vicinity of the NBP. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe